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kafkaoftherubble · 19 days ago

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what do you think of the recent after god chapters i would figuratively die to hear your thoughts

Yo, hello!

You're in luck: I was looking up some stuff on Tumblr for something I want to do some time around now. I have some time to spare, and this question is so recent!

Sometime around the end of March, I actually had an essay planned for Chapter 73 (titled "Depression IPO"), but once again, life (mostly work) got in the way. And then new chapters got served along with new development.

I gotta be frank: I did have a lot of thoughts about the most recent chapters, but lately I started rewatching Pantheon with my beloved friend, and now most of my brain has been turned into a distillery producing Pantheon spirit. I had to rake my brain to remember some of these thoughts consciously. It's not gonna be as detailed as my usual essays, but I do wanna save your figurative life, ahahaaa!

As usual, spoilers for the most recent After God chapters!

Orokapi's Personhood

This is an extension from the chapter where he gave up and turned into goo when everyone called out to his name. He said he needed to think, that's why.

It was a bit more than that, methinks. I suspect Orokapi assumes forms he finds most congruent to what he's feeling at the moment.

When he felt anxious about the future and his friendship with Tokinaga, he turned into Vollof, who was constantly on edge and anxious because of drug withdrawal. Later, during Cylinder Gramps (I forgot his name. Wauke?)'s invasion, just when shit really hit the fan, Minami arose from the Orokapi goo to protect his old colleage and lover.

Curiously, Vollof and Minami act as though they were their own persons… and not "Orokapi assuming their form." It suggests some semblance of independence from each of the forms he possesses, which means the "Orokapi" we know the most might really just be Obikawa. The Snake God seems to identify itself primarily through him, but as the story advances, I've been suspecting that Obikawa himself has bled into Orokapi.

It proves what the IPOs have been telling each other: humanity is infectious. But they might not have meant it in the "humans have taught us how to love" kind of way per se. They might have meant "literally infectious," like some viruses were known to do against eukaryotic cells. They forcefully hijack the host's cellular functions to replicate viral DNA and other proteins that will be helpful for the virus's propagation.

Orokapi's personhood is a very interesting one to me because of this. There's some similarity to, say, Dissociative Personality Disorder. It wouldn't be odd if he were used to serve as a mild allegory of it, given Tokinaga's behavior is quite reminiscent of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, too.

As an aside: Eno Sumi really likes pontificating and philosophizing about mental conditions. Her work is filled with psychological exploration of her characters (it's evident in her personal side project, which is deadass about a depressed mangaka who often contemplates his state of mind). Her analyses and depictions are too incisive and profound to come from a pop-psychology casual, and really… Even in After God, this same mastery of psychology writing is evident.

Orokapi's Godhood

In one of these recent chapters, dude's eyes were basically glowing like he's seriously a divine being.

Very aptly, this happened when he was expressing compassion. "When you want to die, just jump into my mouth without a second thought." (Paraphrased from memory by a Pantheon-addled brain).

That entire chapter was a milestone. He actually apologized to someone. He transformed parts of himself to replace Tokinaga's calcified hands and feet after they broke off. He assured Tokinaga of his companionship and camaraderie.

Yes, he had shown his kinder side before this—like in his handling of Vollof's last moments. But back then, Orokapi was following what he learned from Tokinaga about being a good friend.

Here? This was his own insight. These were actions he had chosen to undertake of his own volition; he was not mimicking anyone.

Throughout the manga, we readers have seen the IPOs display different aspects of "gods" as imagined by us. Most of them took on qualities like "fearsomeness," "commanding," "indescribably beautiful," "cruel," "violently mercurial," "ineffable," "proud," etc.

But this might be the first time an IPO showed genuine, unselfish benevolence.

Eno Sumi really loves a certain kind of "death."

In that Depression Manga (a.k.a. her side hustle, except she publishes it for free on Pixiv anyway), there was this part where the two main leads were talking about Yaharu (the depressed mangaka)'s suicidal ideation (again). Jun (the successful mangaka; Yaharu's confidante and caretaker… or more?) told Yaharu to die only in his presence so he could collect Yaharu's bones or something. I don’t remember for sure. Look, I told you. Pantheon-addled brain.

The point of that exchange in the Depression Manga was that, if one must die… it would have been the pinnacle of compassion to be there for that person. Perhaps at the moment of passing, death pales at the face of loneliness.

Waka Is Such A Chuuni Gaessaekki

In the latest chapter, we get to see Waka in the "original world" (I'm gonna call it Prime World for… no reason) Tokinaga described. And my man, I'm being 100% truthful—I immediately disliked Prime Waka. I'm so glad Tokinaga AGREES, and we ALL know he has only the MOST BASED OPINIONS ON THINGS. No, I will not be taking rebuttals.

For real, though. She's such a tryhard, man. Who the fuck says shit like "do you know what I do to make people remember me" followed by some edgelord shit about "observing them" and "deliberately praising what they hate," which I assumed must have garnered a standing ovation in her head. And of course, her claiming she's a witch and then deadass trying to cold-read Tokinaga so badly that the guy called her out on it!

But here's this thing about me. If I hate someone reflexively, there's often only two reasons.

One, that person is genuinely An Ass. As in, they breach all of my ethical principles.

Two? ………. I saw myself in them, and before I consciously recognized it, I started to hate them.

Waka is… Well, a dear childhood friend of mine had pointed out that I was not that different from Prime Waka when I was in my teens. I wasn't chuuni in the "I have superpowers and no one understands me. I'm the Chosen One!" sense; I was chuuni in the "I need to come up with a whole ass script to throw someone off so they will remember me and maybe, just maybe, they will find me interesting enough to wanna be my friend."

I'm already a weird person from the get-go (my autistic friends on Tumblr had insisted that I'm "one of them." I'm running low on evidence to disprove them, so far). I had trouble fitting in. But I was also lonely, and I just wanted the kindly looking guys to be my friends, too. If there was a Tokinaga in my class back then, you bet I'd devise all sorts of stupid shit to say to "shock" him into remembering me and impress him. I'd do the exact thing as Waka did—instead of asking him to add me as a friend on social media like a normal person, I'd spin this whole script just to ultimately get his social media account.

That led me to think… Is Waka just lonely?

If her background is the same as in IPO World (the one we were introduced to from the start), then she's a country gal working (living?) in a very forgettable place that no one would stop by. It might have been pretty lonely. She might be dreaming of, I don't know, adventures and excitement and a larger purpose in life and a handsome young man who looks cutely troubled and quiet.

I also kinda wonder if Allula's personality is really just Prime Waka's…

This made me think she wasn't really a witch. Or, she "was" the same way as one who calls themself "Orokapi's #1 Batter and Defense Attorney"—i.e. "it's self-proclaimed and debatable." She might have genuinely become one after whatever the fuck caused the IPO World to be exist.

This leads me to the next Thought…

Could This IPO World Be the Result of Tokinaga (ft. Waka)'s "Wish?"

This is pure speculation territory, my man. Proof? Circumstantial. Hey, better than me pulling it out from my ever productive ass!

The most lucid IPO so far is Nirosca, the winged draconic thingy that reminded me of a wyvern or a Ying Long. It seems to be the only one who knows what Tokinaga and Waka's deal is. And who does this dragon follow around? Tokinaga.

Tokinaga has this self-punishing compulsion driven by a feeling of guilt over every tragedy that has happened in this world. Why? Could it be because he was the one who ushered it in?

Tokinaga remembers Prime World.

Nirosca said something about "Waka's wish" that it could finally "grant now."

Nirosca also confirmed that Tokinaga is probably "the most powerful person" here. That he could "kill anyone if he wanted to." Indeed, his power is seriously overpowered; if it weren't for the toll it would take on his body, it could be completely unbeatable.

Tokinaga has a harem. No, I'm serious. He's the only one who managed to have four people who are very affectionate (?) toward him: Waka, Allula, Nirosca, and Orokapi-Obikawa.

This is a very, very wild speculation. It can't even be seen as a hypothesis because of lacking facts. But, I was wondering if Tokinaga's original wish was something selfish, which led to this world being created. What he thought would be a utopia became a dystopia, and he had been remorseful ever since.

This can explain why he somehow believes every suffering in this world is his fault, as if he is personally responsible for all of it. It can also explain why he's seen as "above the gods."

Could Tokinaga's plan to "kill all IPOs" stemmed from the belief that it was the only way to undo his wish? Could he secretly fear that it actually wont', and so wish he can die… and this world will die with him, and everyone else gets to return to Prime World?

Bonus spitballing: what if Allula is the actual Prime Waka, who just doesn't remember that? Could the current Waka—"Witch Waka," capable of killing Yakou—be a mix of the Waka We Know and Prime Waka?

This is really intriguing territory, either way.

I Knew It! Tokinaga Is…

… asexual. I actually asked my beloved friend about this when I first read After God two years ago. "Is this guy ace, like you, or something?"

I just feel a lil' smug because the Lyn Back Then had only just learned about asexuality and aromanticism. It's like having just learned how to drive and already successfully outrun a car chase with the police. Or something.

I also wondered if he's aromantic, but this is more just me having a hilariously lack of understanding toward "love" (I deadass didn't even realize Waka and Shion love each other until it's completely fucking obvious, wallahi).

I seriously cannot tell someone is having romantic feelings toward another unless they are blushing and stammering and doing this shit 👉👈.

So ya know… Tokinaga, if you love Orokapi romantically, please help a clueless folk out and do 👉👈.

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—And that's a wrap!

I hope this saved your figurative life, my mate. This was the best I could come up with lately, so seriously… I hope it counted for something. An entertaining read for y'all, at least!

Sincerely, thank you. I'm really happy you like my After God walls-of-text so much… enough to solicit more, in fact! I don't think I got that good a handle on the story's progression (bro I didn't expect the latest development at all), but I love this shit enough to find yapping about it a pleasure.

As always,

Thank You For Reading My Ramble!

P.S. tagging @kossanctuary as usual for all After God shit!

#after god manga #after god spoilers #after god #after god meta #orokapi #tokinaga sachiyuki #kamikura waka #nirosca #睿得失这个话痨的长篇大论

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